This Newcastle Youngster Emerging As Real Leader

We couldn’t have said it better ourselves and there are lots of reports in the papers that after the game on Saturday, 22 year-old Jamaal Lascelles was more than vocal in the dressing room after the game at Southampton, when other more senior players didn’t have too much to say.

Jamaal came on for the woeful Steven Taylor at half time and had a decent enough game at center-back in the second half, when Newcastle were again better, but only after they had lost the game by going down 3-0.

It’s safe enough to play when you know you have already lost the game.

Jamaal Lascelles gesticulating at his team mates in second half
Hey – what you lot doing?
Notice the four more experienced players in the picture
This is some of what Jamaal said after the game in a BBC Sports interview and he got very close to exactly what’s wrong with some of our better players:

“We need bigger characters on the pitch, players who care and who are going to get after each other.”

“We have lacked it this season and no matter how good you are, if you don’t have that fight and hunger and desire, it doesn’t matter.”

“We had Steve McClaren who is a great manager and now we’ve got Rafa Benítez, who is a great manager, so it’s clearly not that.”

“It’s the players and we have to take full responsibility. It’s ourselves who need to change it and not the manager.”

“We need to play with more heart. We’ve got flair players, tricky players, players with loads of talent, but we need more heart, we need more desire.”

Well said Jamaal.

Rob Elliot emerged as an unlikely leader after he came in for the injured Tim Krul last October after starting the season as third choice goalkeeper.

Rob will almost certainly be our Player of the Season this season – and now young Jamaal seems to be showing some guts and leadership too.

Those comments will make the youngster popular with the Newcastle fans and we wouldn’t mind at all if he gets a start on Saturday although we expect Fab Coloccini and Paul Dummett to start the game.

But maybe he can fill in at right back for Daryl Janmaat if he cannot recover from his groin injury or the two fingers he broke when having it out with a wall at half time and came off second best – what again!

I told my son on Sunday morning that Daryl will tell the medical staff this week he is not fit to play in the game on Saturday.

You have to admire Jamaal for those comments – it’s a pity some of our more senior players haven’t got the bottle to speak up too, rather than just hiding out.

Lascelles is right. A few occasions now he has questioned the commitment and desire of his teammates, and rightly so. A very strange decision to leave him out in favour of Taylor at the weekend.

As for Marceli… I mean Janmaat and his finger problem, hopefully it does keep him out and both Dummet and Colo are fit. Mbemba right back, Colo and Lascelles central with Dummet left back will give us a far more solid base to build upon.

Morning chaps,
What’s going on? I haven’t been bothered following the club I love,let alone opening any site for weeks because my head was down and everything is sounding like a joke to me.Football become tasting sour.
The players become laughable.Benitez started making McLaren blameless.So what’s next?
Who gives a fk.Remember the damage is already done when we lost to Bournmouth at home. We already were dead men walking.We are playing simply because two clubs have been given us false hope.May be it’s time for our heartless players and the club to suffer the consequences and re-learn football lessons and basics in lower league.I hate to say it but it might be a better solution considering how lazy the players are/were.Bored and Speechless !!!

The players are getting stick.
However, it does seem we are trying every time to make the unworkable work.
We have no pace in attack. Not just no pace but no mobility.
No runs being made. We offer no threat there at all.
Players will give up eventually if we keep doing that.
We’d have to be this best team in the world at keeping the ball to make this work. Clearly we are not.

See the U21’s got another tonking off Brighton last night. One of only two clubs below them and who hadn’t managed a win in twenty one games. Our two academy teams have two wins this year between them after twenty two games. Yet Peter Beardsley will keep his job because he tells the public what a good owner Mike Ashley is and the good he’s doing for the youth set up.

With Beardsley, I think we were on a good run of form when we had that team with Nile Ranger in it, going to the semis or something. But ever since then yeah our under 21s & under 18s have not gotten very far. Even Fulham when they were relegated their reserves got to the cup final only to lose against Chelsea. I wouldn’t just blame him mate, we need better youth coaches. Willy the ‘bully’ Donachie is gone but apart from that we have had the same youth coaches for a while now I’m quite sure.

Lascalles , not for the first time questions the attitude of the players
The trouble is that if half a team don’t give a flying then this spreads to rest of the team.
Trouble is that we have no one to step in if we drop them

Lascelles says it all here really. This is why we’re in this mess. Because our players simply don’t care. And they don’t care because our board don’t care, and they don’t care because our owner doesn’t care. So I ask you Mr. Ashley, if you don’t care… why should we? It’s not our money you’re flushing down the Championship. We’ll be able to watch our beloved team for cheaper next year, because we’ll be playing in a lower division. You won’t be lining your pockets with the Premiership money. You can sit there and say it’s the boards fault but you appointed them. not us.
You claim you’re “wed” to Newcastle. Well may I suggest you get a good divorce lawyer and put us and you out of our misery.

Why should that be the case ?
According to the press Shelvey will still be on £80,000 a week in the Championship as Charmless failed to fix a relegation clause.
If that really is the sort of money these players are on then don’t cut their wages make them employ all the back office staff on decent wages and give them some sense of responsibility and the real world everyone else lives in. One years football salary would pay for 50 nurses or teachers. Unreal.

And Koleman is educating his Southampton players to learn how to communicate and talk to each other because they are isolated and immersed into their earphones and games.
Dummies the lot of them .

I don’t know if Ed missed the comments section off the Strachan article deliberately ?
Strachan played for Leeds whose fate should have been a lesson for all owners.
Peter Ridsdale mortgaged Leeds future against success which didn’t materialise he then fel lout with O’Leary over the sale of Rio Ferdinand and then Terry Venables over the sale of Johnathan Woodgate.
Someone (I suspect the little shit Wise) told Ashley early doors that managers weren’t savvy enough to deal with the buying and selling of expensive commodities like modern day footballers.
I know it’s easy to be wise after the event but if the £130+ million that had to be used to bail the club out in the fizzy pop had been given to Keegan to buy players 12 months earlier where would we be now ?

Jib,
Which £130million was used to bail us out of the Fizzy pop? I think around £80/90million of that already existed when he bought the club the other £40million might be the Championship cash, although I seem to remember him stumping up just £20million although the £20 mill figure could be my memory playing tricks on me as that was the figure he promised to put in on an annual basis, but then didn’t.

Posada,
You are right, we lack pace up top, I think that is why most were screaming for a pacey centre forward last summer. Still, if you don’t have that you at least have to devise a game plan that does play to the strengths of what you have.

For me, that has been a major failing of both managers this season. Benitez even speaks about the need for crosses and better service but continues to play a guy on the left who is right footed and continually slows play or cuts inside. This ruins any opportunity for the movement from the centre forwards.

For the rest of the season I’d like to see two wide men who can go down the outside and get a ball in, for me that limits it to Townsend, Gini (on the right – he played a fair bit there last season for PSV), Ober or Aarons.

On Townsend, I have to say he has impressed me. I was far from a fan of his, but he has done more than any other wide player we have had for years already. Granted, not tough competition for him, but still. Happy to have him, despite my initial reaction to his signing.

Lilo
October 2009 was Ashleys worst ever month at the club
Barry Moat backed out of a buy out deal.
Keegan won his arbitration (though not for the £9 million he wanted)
Ashley had to put a FURTHER £20 million into the club.
However the £100+ million over and above his purchase price of £137 million that he had to fork out has always been a matter of some dispute.
It was the BBC who said in a documentary that MA had not done due diligence , the same documentary was said by NUFC to contain many inaccuracies.
Even if only half the amount was caused by relegation – say £70 million – that in 2008 was a fair chunk for Keegan to strengthen the squad.

I’d say May 2009 was Ashleys worst month at the club flowed by May 2016 which is looking to be even worse. He said last year he’d finance a return to the PL, I’d much rather he sold up to somebody that could be trusted to do a good job.

AncientC
I love the way every pronouncement by the Ashley camp is dismissed as spin except when it suits your agenda.
Anyone who believes a Billionaire’s legal team would not do due diligence on a business purchase is deluding themselves.

Always said the “due diligence” story was baloney, a smokescreen. The “extra’ money is a loan. You can get your loan money back providing you have secured it. Will Mike tell us there aren’t enough assets in the club to pay him back so he will have to lose his money? I think I know. 😉

“I decided to sell my shares because of Abramovich. It took me just over two years. I was in negotiations with some Malaysians when I got a call from another group. They wanted to meet me in London prior to my meeting with the Malaysians. I agreed. I was met at Kings Cross and taken by Rolls Royce to Freshfields and into a packed meeting room where this unnamed parties financial representatives began to make me an offer. I told them that I would honour my meeting with the Malaysians so could not give them an answer. They tried their best to persuade me otherwise but I’m a man of my word. The meeting with the Malaysians went well but they wanted 6 weeks to do due diligence. The offer from the other party at Freshfields waived that right and was a better deal. I was told that the man behind the deal was Mike Ashley and I sat with his representatives over 3 days thrashing out a deal. I was keen to know why they wanted the club and they were quite honest. They wanted to market their sports goods in the Far East and would use the Club to help do this. To me it made sense to market the Club globally. It was a win win situation for Mike and the Club. We hadn’t done that. Over the 3 days I gave them a lot of advice. When they took over they put Chris Mort in to run things and went private. It was a good move. He’s not a fool and like Mike he came in with the best of intentions. “

I decided to sell my shares because of Abramovich. It took me just over two years. I was in negotiations with some Malaysians when I got a call from another group. They wanted to meet me in London prior to my meeting with the Malaysians. I agreed. I was met at Kings Cross and taken by Rolls Royce to Freshfields and into a packed meeting room where this unnamed parties financial representatives began to make me an offer. I told them that I would honour my meeting with the Malaysians so could not give them an answer. They tried their best to persuade me otherwise but I’m a man of my word. The meeting with the Malaysians went well but they wanted 6 weeks to do due diligence. The offer from the other party at Freshfields waived that right and was a better deal. I was told that the man behind the deal was Mike Ashley and I sat with his representatives over 3 days thrashing out a deal. I was keen to know why they wanted the club and they were quite honest. They wanted to market their sports goods in the Far East and would use the Club to help do this. To me it made sense to market the Club globally. It was a win win situation for Mike and the Club. We hadn’t done that. Over the 3 days I gave them a lot of advice. When they took over they put Chris Mort in to run things and went private. It was a good move. He’s not a fool and like Mike he came in with the best of intentions. His subsequent departure caused a few problems and Mike made a mistake listening to the likes of Paul Kelmsley at Spurs. I think he made another mistake bringing back Kevin Keegan. He was yesterdays man, like Dalglish at Liverpool now. It wasn’t a rational decision and he’s had to pay for it. The appointment of Dennis Wise upset Kevin and the inevitable fallout happened. I thought the local media handled the situation badly and the vilification with headlines such as ‘Get Out Of Toon’ were unjustified. I believe the damage has been done and I believe he will get out of the club when he can, but it will have to suit both the club and him. Mike has the wealth to challenge, but he’s been hurt. He needs to liaise with the fans. I think he made a huge mistake drinking with them in the early days, I think he took some bad advice.

So, with likely prior investigation, and then 3 days with a team of experts, Ashley was unable to figure out the club owed money out for players and the stadium? (Common practise)

Hall by his quotes seems to think Ashley would make a better owner. I do not see the time required for due diligence as being an overall deciding factor for Hall. The fact Ashley only needed 3 days if anything indicates he knew exactly what he was buying into. Remember Ashley was not a billionaire at this point, it was a lot of money to him at the time.

If you want to buy the lack of due diligence story as the reasons for Ashley’s modus operandi, you are welcome to. Count me as an unbeliever.

Comparatively new faces from off the bench to freshen up the jaded squad ?
I’d put Obertan out wide and have him swapping wings with Townsend during the game.
I’d give Saviet an opportunity in midfield in place of Wini and play him alongside Shelvey.
Dummett, if fit, would return at LB, with Lascelles, Colo, if fit, and Janmaat (hand bandaged) completing the back four.
Up front I’d put Mitro with Siem playing just behind him in a 4 – 4 – 1 – 1 formation, with Perez taking Siem’s place midway through the second half a possibility.

Sir John Hall at 83 probably isn’t bothered any more but imagine if he and Fat Freddy had just pootled along with fat Sam for 6 or 7 years , stuck mid to lower table , but surviving .
How much could they get for NUFC now ?

Jib, you can cut the cloth any way you like, but the bottom line is that we are about to disappear into the Championship for the second time during Ashley’s ownership. This is a football club, not a financial institution, and the intrinsic stakeholders are the fans, not shareholders. Give the Ashley adoration a rest – this is not the right time. We don’t want to hear it.

Why Lascelles was not started at the beginning of the season is beyond me. Young english players with talent don’t just suddenly become amazing – you need to give them game time to get experience so that they can develop.

McClaren started Colo with Mbemba from the start which was in my opinion the wrong decision.

For saturday – I note some people have said Mbemba to start at RB – can he play at RB? I guess it is either him, Sissoko or Anita.

If he can play at RB then Colo comes in but I want the same back 4 for the last 6 games.

The only way teams put a run of consistent results is by having a consistent team – especially defence. So would people be happy with this:

was at the under 21 game last night headless chickens springs to mind …………..most of the talk last night was Rafa was staying but no one had any idea were the story was coming from any one heard this or anything else …….one other thing Beardsley got a bit of stick from the few fans that were there about time in my opinion

@jib (25) are you saying you believe ashleys legal team did do a due diligence ? , Its the first time I have seen anyone bring this up (I could be wrong tho) If his legal team did do a due diligence it could not of been a very good one and he should of fired them straight away thats a lot of money (120 mil I think) to not see .

I’m not saying i believe him but he certainly gets far to much credit for being a business genius
let’s face it he’s left lamearse and charnley to run quarter of a billion pound businesses
so if his financial team are of the same calibre as them two then it’s quite likely lol

ED PLEASE READ;
On a different subject, is anyone else being redirected to the App Store when trying to look at this site when not connected to wifi? There’s some malware in one of the ads on this site which is hijacking some iPhones which means this site doesn’t work when not connected to wifi (on 3G or 4g connection for example)
it is definitely the ads causing it.

the main pic is quite disturbing really , lascelles giving it what for to his ”experienced older team mates” while they look on sheepishley tells you everythink about commitment . give him the armband on saturday and the freedom to go around and kick everybody up the f”””g arse he feelsis not pulling their weight . A 22 year old babby has got to to go and tell seasoned players their input is just not good enough ? jeez, cant believe it

Me and my mate sit down to watch the game and I said to him that Taylor looks so out of sorts I cannot see why he is starting…5 mins in and we see why. he never goes for a tackle, his tactic is to back off and hope they miss. its literally non league standard.
Bunch of lazy players who deserve to be relegated.
Players ‘too big’ to be dropped is a joke and has cost he being relegated.
Ben Arfa smashing them in from all angles aint helping either. So wish we would have kept him, someone who genuinely loved the toon and was pushed out for all the wrong reasons. Same with Gutierrez, can you imagine him playing with so little heart? never

Recall him making a mistake and giving the ball away on the edge of their box after an attacking set-piece, at the weekend. He sprinted back full tilt to redeem himself and get goal side and recover his defensive position, contrast that with Mbemba earlier in the season against Arsenal, who gave the ball away halfway inside the opposition half and by the time they’d netted he’d only jogged back to halfway inside our half.

In honor of two dedicated Newcastle fans, who lost their lives supporting Newcastle United.

Their passenger jet was shot down over Ukraine on Thursday July 17th, 2014 by rebels, as they were traveling to support the team in New Zealand.

We will never forget them.

Health Update - 4 Aug, 2016

The good news last week was that after more blood tests my PSA count is still undetectable

This means the prostate cancer is still under control, and there is no trace of it in the body.

Now to be even more vigilant so I can see the Rafa Benitez project come to its fruition over the next few years - wouldn't want to miss that.

Howay The Lads!!>

Ed Harrison

What Is A Football Club?

What is a club in any case?

Not the buildings or the directors or the people who are paid to represent it.

It’s not the television contracts, get-out clauses, marketing departments or executive boxes.

It’s the noise, the passion, the feeling of belonging, the pride in your city.

It’s a small boy clambering up stadium steps for the very first time, gripping his father’s hand, gawping at that hallowed stretch of turf beneath him and, without being able to do a thing about it, falling in love.